Right Attitudes

Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties. He must have the courage to write the truth when truth is everywhere opposed; the keenness to recognize it, although it is everywhere concealed; the skill to manipulate it as a weapon; the judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective; and the cunning to spread the truth among such persons.
—Bertolt Brecht (German Poet)

There is a great deal of human nature in man.
—Charles Kingsley (English Clergyman)

If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Novelist, Aviator)

Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.
—Michael Friedsam (American Philanthropist)

There is no power like that of true oratory. Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; Cicero, by captivating their affections and swaying their passions. The influence of the one perished with its author; that of the other continues to this day.
—Henry Clay (American Politician)

There is a strong correlation between knowledge and humility. The best investors realize how little they know.
—Morgan Housel (American Financial Journalist, Investor)

OPTIMISM: A kind of heart stimulant—the digitalis of failure.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)

There is a Light before which all other light is darkness. There is a Strength before which all other strength is weakness. There is a Joy before which all other joy is suffering.
—Nolini Kanta Gupta (Indian Hindu Revolutionary)

If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.
—George Orwell (English Novelist, Essayist, Journalist)

Faith is the surrender of the mind; it’s the surrender of reason, it’s the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It’s our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated.
—Christopher Hitchens (Anglo-American Essayist, Social Critic)

It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place.
—N. R. Narayana Murthy (Indian Businessperson)

I’ll fight tooth and nail to make something succeed. But the moment I realize it’s not going to succeed, the next day, I will have forgotten about it. I will just move on to the next venture.
—Richard Branson (British Entrepreneur)

The most unhappy of all men is he who believes himself to be so.
—David Hume (Scottish Philosopher, Historian)

There is no advancement to him who stands trembling because he cannot see the end from the beginning.
—E. J. Klemme (American Educator)

A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.
—Henrik Ibsen (Norwegian Playwright)

A president’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.
—Lyndon B. Johnson (American Head of State)

Our human compassion binds us to one another—not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.
—Nelson Mandela (South African Political leader)

Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.
—Ray Kroc (American Entrepreneur)

Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.
—Mark Twain (American Humorist)

I would rather hear the pleased laugh of a child over some feature of my exhibition than receive as I did the flattering compliments of the Prince of Wales.
—P. T. Barnum (American Businessperson)

Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don’t do that by sitting around wondering about yourself.
—Katharine Hepburn (American Actor)

Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.
—Louisa May Alcott (American Novelist)

It’s no use growing older if you only learn new ways of misbehaving yourself.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (British Short Story Writer)

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.
—Niels Bohr (Danish Physicist)

The trouble in America is not that we are making too many mistakes, but that we are making too few.
—Philip H. Knight (American Businessman)

Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.
—Emily Bronte (English Novelist, Poet)

It’s not what we’re against which defines us, it’s what we stand for. Sometimes the footing is surest where the fewest walk.
—Bob Goff (American Philanthropist)

Try to keep your soul young and quivering right up to old age, and to imagine right up to the brink of death that life is only beginning. I think that is the only way to keep adding to one’s talent, and one’s inner happiness.
—George Sand (French Novelist, Dramatist)

For truth and duty it is ever the fitting time; who waits until circumstances completely favor his undertaking, will never accomplish anything.
—Martin Luther (German Protestant Theologian)

Our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.
—William Shakespeare (British Playwright)

We cannot seek or attain health, wealth, learning, justice or kindness in general. Action is always specific, concrete, individualized, unique.
—John Dewey (American Philosopher)

Except in cases of necessity, which are rare, leave your friend to learn unpleasant things from his enemies; they are ready enough to tell him.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (American Physician)

Friends are proved by adversity.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit. A well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care and freely consecrated to research.
—Marie Curie (Polish-born French Physicist)

O sacred hunger of ambitious minds!
—Edmund Spenser (English Poet)

The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.
—Archibald MacLeish (American Poet, Dramatist)

The brave man inattentive to his duty, is worth little more to his country than the coward who deserts in the hour of danger.
—Andrew Jackson (American Head of State)

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.
—John Wesley (British Methodist Religious Leader)

A king is always a king—and a woman always a woman: his authority and her sex ever stand between them and rational converse.
—Mary Shelley (English Novelist)

Don’t be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
—Steve Jobs (American Entrepreneur)

The greatest thing is, at any moment, to be willing to give up who we are in order to become all that we can be.
—Max De Pree (American Businessman)

A single word often betrays a great design.
—Jean Racine (French Dramatist)

So nothing is ever good or bad unless you think it so, and vice versa. All luck is good luck to the man who bears it with equanimity.
—Boethius (Roman Statesman, Philosopher)

Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly find fault with, you will not do much.
—Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) (British Anglican Author)

We must believe that “emotion recollected in tranquility” is an inexact formula. For it is neither emotion, nor recollection, nor without distortion of meaning, tranquility. It is a concentration, and a new thing resulting from the concentration of a very great number of experiences which to the practical and active person would not seem to be experiences at all; it is a concentration which does not happen consciously or of deliberation. These experiences are not “recollected” and they finally unite in an atmosphere which is “tranquil” only in that it is a passive attending upon the event.
—T. S. Eliot (American-born British Poet)

Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (British Poet)

When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.
—John F. Kennedy (American Head of State)

Most of us think ourselves bold, individualistic thinkers when in fact we’re tepid if not downright lemmings.
—Marty Nemko (American Career Coach, Author)

If we are suffering illness, poverty, or misfortune, we think we shall be satisfied on the day it ceases. But there too, we know it is false; so soon as one has got used to not suffering one wants something else.
—Simone Weil (French Philosopher, Political Activist)

The fiery trials through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the last generation.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedom is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstances.
—Viktor Frankl (Austrian Psychologist)

He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality, and will never, therefore, make any progress.
—Anwar el-Sadat (Egyptian Head of State)

That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Irish-born British Playwright)

Greatness is always built on this foundation: the ability to appear, speak and act, as the most common man.
—Hafez (Persian Poet)

Be confident small immortals. You are not the only voice that all things utter, nor is there eternal silence in the places where you cannot come.
—C. S. Lewis (Irish-born British Children’s Books Writer)

Nothing is more active than thought, for it travels over the universe, and nothing is stronger than necessity for all must submit to it.
—Thales of Miletus (Greek Philosopher, Mathematician)

A writer must always try to have a philosophy and he should also have a psychology and a philology and many other things. Without a philosophy and a psychology and all these various other things he is not really worthy of being called a writer. I agree with Kant and Schopenhauer and Plato and Spinoza and that is quite enough to be called a philosophy. But then of course a philosophy is not the same thing as a style.
—Gertrude Stein (American Writer)

Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.
—Benjamin Franklin (American Political leader)

Self-knowledge is no guarantee of happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it.
—Simone de Beauvoir (French Philosopher)

An impersonal and scientific knowledge of the structure of our bodies is the surest safeguard against prurient curiosity and lascivious gloating.
—Marie Stopes (British Author, Social Activist)

Some have an idea that the reason we in this country discard things so readily is because we have so much. The facts are exactly opposite—the reason we have so much is simply because we discard things so readily. We replace the old in return for something that will serve us better.
—Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. (American Businessman, Philanthropist)

Everybody, my friend, everybody lives for something better to come. That’s why we want to be considerate of every man—Who knows what’s in him, why he was born and what he can do?
—Maxim Gorky (Russian Writer)

History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. To keep the peace, we and our allies must be strong enough to convince any potential aggressor that war could bring no benefit, only disaster.
—Ronald Reagan (American Head of State)

Among all human pursuits, the pursuit of wisdom is more perfect, more noble, more useful, and more full of joy.
—Thomas Aquinas (Italian Catholic Priest)

Work has a greater effect than any other technique of living in the direction of binding the individual more closely to reality; in his work, at least, he is securely attached to a part of reality, the human community.
—Sigmund Freud (Austrian Psychiatrist)

Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing.
—Thomas Jefferson (American Head of State)

It is really very impressive how many excuses we can invent for why we aren’t sitting. This idea we have that when things are perfect, then we’ll start practicing … things will never be perfect. This is samsara!
—Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (British Buddhist Teacher, Nun)

An ambitious person should overcome the following six weaknesses—resting (oversleeping), lethargy, fear, anger, laziness and procrastination.
—The Mahabharata (Hindu Religious Text)

There are no speed limits on the road to excellence.
—David W. Johnson (American Business Executive)

Well, youth is the period of assumed personalities and disguises. It is the time of the sincerely insincere.
—V. S. Pritchett (British Short Story Writer)

The contemplation of truth and beauty is the proper object for which we were created, which calls forth the most intense desires of the soul, and of which it never tires.
—William Hazlitt (English Essayist)

We must live for the few who know and appreciate us, who judge and absolve us, and for whom we have the same affection and indulgence. The rest I look upon as a mere crowd, lively or sad, loyal or corrupt, from whom there is nothing to be expected but fleeting emotions, either pleasant or unpleasant, which leave no trace behind them.
—Sarah Bernhardt (French Actress)

The memories of long love gather like drifting snow, poignant as the mandarin ducks who float side by side in sleep.
—Murasaki Shikibu (Japanese Diarist, Novelist)

The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

Each of us, face to face with other men, is clothed with some sort of dignity, but we know only too well all the unspeakable things that go on in the heart.
—Luigi Pirandello (Italian Dramatist)

A rolling stone can gather no moss.
—Publilius Syrus (Syrian-born Latin Writer)

No matter how complicated a problem is, it usually can be reduced to a simple, comprehensible form which is often the best solution.
—An Wang (Chinese-born American Engineer)

Now is now. It can never be a long time ago.
—Laura Ingalls Wilder (American Author of Children’s Novels)

Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act.
—Annie Besant (British-born Indian Theosophist)

Do not give way to useless alarm; though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain.
—Jane Austen (English Novelist)

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
—G. K. Chesterton (English Journalist)

Sympathy is never wasted except when you give it to yourself.
—John W. Raper (American Journalist, Aphorist)

As long as I am back in my military life for a second, I should like to observe one thing about leadership that one of the great has said—Napoleon. He said, the great leader, the genius in leadership, is the man who can do the average thing when everybody else is going crazy.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (American Head of State)

May we agree that private life is irrelevant? Multiple, mixed, ambiguous at best—out of it we try to fashion the crystal clear, the singular, the absolute, and that is what is relevant; that is what matters.
—May Sarton (American Children’s Books Writer)

The water drop playing on a lotus petal has an extremely uncertain existence; so also is life ever unstable. Understand, the very world is consumed by disease and conceit, and is riddled with pangs.
—Adi Shankaracharya (Indian Hindu Philosopher)

The nice thing about egotists is that they don’t talk about other people.
—Lucille S. Harper (American Freelance Writer)

There’s a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.
—Charles M. Schulz (American Cartoonist)

Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence.
—David Ben-Gurion (Russian-born Israeli Head of State)

Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
—Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian Monk)

We Japanese enjoy the small pleasures, not extravagance. I believe a man should have a simple lifestyle—even if he can afford more.
—Masaru Ibuka (Japanese Entrepreneur, Engineer)

Silence accompanies the most significant expressions of happiness and unhappiness: those in love understand one another best when silent, while the most heated and impassioned speech at a graveside touches only outsiders, but seems cold and inconsequential to the widow and children of the deceased.
—Anton Chekhov (Russian Short Story Writer)

A lie told often enough becomes truth.
—Vladimir Lenin (Russian Revolutionary Leader)

To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don’t be.
—Golda Meir (Israeli Head of State)

The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.
—Tony Blair (British Statesman)

I know no better augury of a young man’s future than true filial devotion. Very rarely does one go morally wrong, whose passionate love to his mother is a ruling force in his life, and whose continual desire is to gladden her heart. Next to the love of God, this is the noblest emotion. I do not remember a single instance of a young fellow going to the bad who was tenderly devoted to his parents.
—John Thain Davidson (British Presbyterian Preacher)

Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress.
—Coco Chanel (French Fashion Designer)

The opposite of good is not evil, it is indifference.
—Abraham Joshua Heschel (American Jewish Rabbi)

Maybe it was because like not only finds like; it can’t even escape from being found by its like. Even when it’s just like in one thing, because even them two with the same like was different.
—William Faulkner (American Novelist)

From the Hindu perspective, each soul is divine. All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn’t matter what you call Him just as long as you call. Just as cinematic images appear to be real but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a delusion. The planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture. One’s values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture and that not in, but beyond, lays his own ultimate reality.
—George Harrison (English Singer)

There are two kinds of people who lose money: those who know nothing and those who know everything.
—Henry Kaufman (American Economic, Financial Consultant)

Hatred ever kills, love never dies; such is the vast difference between the two. What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality for it increases hatred.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (Indian Hindu Political leader)

Rhythm is the basis of life, not steady forward progress. The forces of creation, destruction, and preservation have a whirling, dynamic interaction.
—Kabbalah Teaching (Jewish Mystical, Theosophical Tradition)

That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.
—Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)